Cleaning the Courthouse Closets

If you think the reading material in your doctor's office is old, consider the stuff found in the storage closet next to the jury room in Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Thomas Cooper's courtroom.

Two bound volumes of the Milwaukee Journal dating to 1896 were found by Carla Redlin, the court clerk. The newspapers pre-date the court house by about 40 years so they must have meant something to someone.

A guy named Rasuchenberger was mayor; the police chief was fellow named Jansen.

Robert LaFollette, according to the paper, had just returned home to Madison after a three-month trip he had taken in the south "in search of health and strength." LaFollette, the state's 20th governor, apparently invigorated, lived another 29 years and went on to serve in the United States Senate and ran for president as a Progressive, remembered in the history books as "Fighting Bob."

A huge sketch of LaFollette accompanied the story on his renewed health; while photography had been around for years, newspapers hadn't adapted the technology yet.

Off in the hinterlands of Whitefish Bay there was a resort that advertised that the restaurant was open for business and DeBon's Quintette would be presenting a "Grand Concert." No car? "The dummy" -- as the street car was known -- ran every 40 minutes, one ad promised.

If you wanted something a little livlier than the resort had to offer, the Broadway Armory advertised "Sparring and Wrestling To-Night" and there was always baseball -- Milwaukee was playing Grand Rapids.

Tired of paying that outrageous nickel for every street car trip? One adviser noted that if you took five trips a day you'd save a ton of money by buying a bicycle for a mere $60.

Redlin says she has no idea why the bound copies of the newspaper were kept in the storage room. They are yellowed and crumbling at the edges but she's keeping them in the closet along with a half dozen chairs and other odds and ends.

About Marie Rohde

Rohde, a lifelong Milwaukee resident, was hired as a reporter for The Milwaukee Journal 1973 and joined the staff of the merged Journal Sentinel in 1995. She has covered everything from police news to religion, sewer controversies to local government.

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